Star Citizen free to try until Friday&comma; Feb 5th

Good news for all those curious about the upcoming space sim Star Citizen: the game's official site announced that they're giving all accounts "Free Fly" access to the game, allowing them to try Star Citizen Alpha 2.1.2 until Friday, February 5. The Free Fly access will be given to both existing and newly-created accounts.

The announcement goes on to explain that in addition to Star Citizen Alpha 2.1.2, players will be given access to two other "unique parts of the Star Citizen experience:"

Star Citizen Alpha 2.1.2 – Also known as Crusader or the “mini-PU,” this is the nucleus of the world we’re building! Featuring multiple space stations and environments, scripted missions, places to explore and more, Alpha 2.1.2 is your first look at a much larger universe!

Arena Commander – Arena Commander is a ‘game within a game’ that we’ve used to develop our flight mechanics and ship combat balance. Take on human opponents or an AI swarm in single seat fighter.

Social Module – Interact with other players while you explore our first landing zone, ArcCorp! The Social Module is intended as a starting point for our world building

Those with Free Fly accounts will be able to use the Hornet F7C military fighter, Mustang Delta Interceptor, and the Aurora LN starter in the game.

In addition to the free access, the announcement goes on to detail the release of the Star Citizen Alpha 2.1.2 patch, which provides some minor bug fixes (full list of changes here), and that the upcoming package split between Squadron 42 and Star Citizen will take place on February 14. Additionally, store credit tokens allowing players to "unmelt" a single ship in the store have been distributed to backers with paid accounts.